Borenius Conducts COVID-19 Survey among Finnish Companies – Positive Outlook Remains for Future Prospects

We conducted a survey among Finnish companies to ascertain what kinds of measures Finnish companies have taken to survive the global COVID-19 pandemic. We also asked companies for their opinions on the support packages introduced by the Finnish government and whether they remain positive about the future.

The results show that respondents have maintained a more or less positive outlook. Many companies remain confident in their liquidity with 68% of the respondents answering that they have sufficient cash funds. However, over half of the respondents (56.4%) felt that demand for their products or services has diminished or that there is currently no or almost no demand for their products or services.

According to the survey, the most popular survival measures undertaken by the respondents involve various arrangements related to loan facilities (50%), layoffs (48.9%), postponing pension and tax payments (45.7%) and negotiating on property lease terms (29.8%).

Furthermore, the survey answers show clear concern about the effectiveness of the support packages introduced by the Finnish government. A quarter of all respondents felt that, due to the slow execution process, many companies will fail before they can receive any support from the government.

”Companies across Europe have expressed similar concerns,” says Managing Partner Casper Herler.

However, a clear indication that many Finnish companies maintain a positive outlook even in the middle of a global pandemic is that approximately half of all respondents (49.5%) are confident that this crisis will provide them with new business opportunities. Over a hundred companies provided their answers on 13 topical questions regarding the pandemic.

Summary of the main results (in Finnish)
Click here if you would like to participate in the next survey (in Finnish)